Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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Abdullah Yusuf Ali (14 April 1872 - 10 December 1953) was an Islamic scholar who translated the Qur'an into English. His translation of the Qur'an ranks alongside the translation of Marmaduke Pickthall as the most widely-known and used in the world.

Ali was born in Bombay, India to a wealthy merchant family. As a child, Ali received a religious education and, eventually, could recite the entire Qur'an from memory. He spoke both Arabic and English fluently. He studied English literature and visited several European countries as a student. He concentrated his efforts on the Qur'an and studied the Qur'anic commentaries beginning with those written in early days of Islamic history. Yusuf Ali's well-known work was his book , published in 1934.

Ali was an outspoken supporter of the Indian contribution to the Allied effort in World War I. He was a respected intellectual in India and Sir Muhammad Iqbal recruited him to be the principal of Islamia College in Lahore, Pakistan. Later in life, he went to England.

He is buried in England at the Muslim cemetery at Brookwood, Surrey, near Woking, near the burial place of Pickthall.

Modern editions of his work remain in print, with modifications in his diction and, more controversially, in the opinions that Ali expressed in footnotes and short historical articles that were included with the original text. For instance, Ali's liberal views on credit and interest do not appear in some editions, as they are considered to run contrary to some schools of Islamic economic thought.

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